The only Orthodox temple in Antarctica had a Holy Trinity Day service on Sunday, a source at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Federal Hydro-Meteorological Service told Itar-Tass on Sunday. "Not only Russian polar explorers but also their colleagues from other Antarctic research stations attended the service," he said.

"The place for the Orthodox temple was selected so that it could be seen from afar. The Holy Trinity Church is the first site tourists see on their way to Antarctica from Terra del Fuego," the source said. The wood for the Antarctic temple was supplied from Altai. Palekh craftsmen did the iconostasis.

On Monday June 9th, Archbishop Demetrios of America welcomed His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, the newly enthroned First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) at the Archdiocese Headquarters in New York City. This meeting between the two Primates follows on a new relationship between the Churches occasioned by the reunification of ROCOR with the Moscow Patriarchate in May of 2007. Archbishop Demetrios had already sent a congratulatory letter to Metropolitan Hilarion after his election as First Hierarch (Primate) of ROCOR, which also invited him to the Archdiocese.